Solutions that don’t break the bank, reinvent the wheel or marginalize our teachers are within our grasp. We could have rigorous classes, safe and disciplined schools and treat teachers like valued colleagues rather than easily replaceable cogs, and we could do so tomorrow if we wanted. Disclaimer, this is an opinion and commentary site and should not be confused as a news site. Also know that quite often people may disagree with the opinions posted.

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Monday, December 22, 2014

School choice is nothing but a red herring for privatization.

Living
in Florida it’s not just the weather that changes every fifteen minutes but the
rationale behind school choice too.

First
vouchers and charters were about getting kids out of failing public schools but
when it turned out that public schools were doing better than charters, over 260
have failed and nobody has any real idea how voucher schools are doing because
the system was set up so they could avoid both financial and academic accountability,
they changed the narrative to one that emphasized competition. The reasoning
was that competition would make everybody better. Well charters and vouchers as
a group didn’t get that memo as one scandal after another has made the
headlines and neither perform better than the public schools they are seeking to replace. In fact quite often the only thing they made better were the bank
accounts of their operators.

Now
they have changed the narrative once again calling for a Kumbaya moment saying
charters and private schools that take vouchers and public schools should let
their differences go, hold hands and come together to address what’s best for
children. Gone are the failing public school and competition narratives almost
like they never existed. Why talk about the past?

I and
many others believe this is just another red herring designed to distract us
from the dismal record of charters the lack of accountability with vouchers and
hide their real agenda which is the destruction of teacher unions and the
privatization of our schools.